SAN FRANCISCO – Dennis Schröder’s NBA career has been defined by rentals.

Currently playing in his 12th professional campaign, Schröder has been traded five times, including once this season when the Warriors acquired him from the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 15, 2024. 

Nobody in a locker room shrouded in rumors understands this time of the year better than someone who has played for eight teams and dealt on the day of the NBA trade deadline twice, as recently as last season. 

Schröder, 31, has been through the anxiousness and uncertainty of the trade deadline. The days leading up to the date now are no different than any other. It’s business as usual for the seasoned veteran. 

“At the end of the day, your salary is still the same,” Schröder said to NBC Sports Bay Area in an exclusive interview after the Warriors’ 104-99 win against the Orlando Magic on Monday night. “You go to a different city, of course, but at the end of the day, that’s not a real problem. That’s a luxury problem. 

“It’s always exciting to you guys [the media] probably. For me, being in my 12th season, business is business. I got my own team in Germany. I know how it works. For me, it’s a business at the end of the day.” 

It wasn’t always like that for Schröder. He has been in his young teammates’ shoes seeing their names in trade rumors, being confused, annoyed or, quite frankly, mad. Schröder has walked the same walk as his career has progressed that a handful of Warriors veterans are dealing with. 

The job is designed to do right by the team. His advice also is to always take care of yourself, to look out for yourself in what’s a “cutthroat business,” Schröder says. The reason: You can get traded for a star at any moment. 

Like everybody else still wrapping their head around the news, Schröder was floored by the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers this weekend. The move instantly was seen as one of the wildest and most surprising trades in sports history. It also was a reminder to Schröder. 

“Luka Dončić just got traded and got five f–—g NBA First Teams,” Schröder said. “All-Stars, he brought money to them, NBA Finals last year and $117 million he can’t sign now because he got traded, and that’s no state income tax. From now on, I see it even more crazier than it was, because to trade somebody like that, nobody’s safe. 

“Not even Steph Curry’s safe probably when I see that. It’s a f––d up business.” 

Dončić was in store next offseason for a five-year, $345 million super-max contract from the Mavericks but is no longer eligible after being traded. The most the Lakers can offer Dončić this summer is a five-year, $229 million deal.

There’s a lot Schröder doesn’t like about the trade deadline. That it feels like an event. That the games feel secondary. The combination he believes is “terrible for the league.” He sees how debate and rumors bring attention to the league and create more money, but thinks there have to be better ways to accomplish both. 

More so, to Schröder, the trade deadline and how it’s viewed speaks to a much larger problem. 

“It’s like modern slavery,” Schröder said. “It’s modern slavery at the end of the day. Everybody can decide where you’re going, even if you have a contract. Yeah, of course, we make a lot of money and we can feed our families, but at the end of the day if they say, ‘You’re not coming to work tomorrow, you’re going over there,’ they can decide that. They got to change that a little bit. 

“But still grateful that we’re here and that we can live this every single day. I think everybody who’s in here is blessed. But if you really think about it, it is kind of crazy that the organization can tell you, ‘We want you to be team-first, but you’re going over there.’ It’s a lot.” 

The control, as Schröder continued to say, is all in the hands of the owners and organizations. Not every situation works out for a player. The wrong move to the wrong city, the wrong coaching staff and teammates, can change a player’s career. It can change a person’s future and financial situation, Schroder acknowledged. 

Is there a fix? Or is this just the structure in a system of a league whose players are more than 70 percent Black yet not one majority owner of the 30 teams is? 

“That’s what the NBA is,” Schröder said. 

Schröder wants solutions. Somewhere in the CBA, his wish would be to right this wrong, especially for players who have accrued years in the NBA. 

“It can’t be someone bringing somebody to the NBA Finals,” Schröder said about Doncic. 

Then, Schröder looks around the locker room. An environment of people who genuinely like being around each other. 

And a reality of what could happen to the 25-24 Warriors by noon PT on Feb. 6. 

“Wiggs,” Schröder said referring to Andrew Wiggins, “almost won the f––n’ Finals MVP in 2022 and now he’s on the trade block. Kevon Looney won three championships here. He was one of the keys to winning the championship, and now he’s on the trade block right now.

“I understand for the first year, second year, but after a certain time … I don’t know. They have to write something in the CBA to get something fixed – a little bit.” 

Schröder’s wife, Ellen, and their three children, ages 2, 4 and 6, were still in Brooklyn for over a month before joining him in San Francisco. Christmas was celebrated over FaceTime. Even in a career that has gone through moves all around the country, the native of Braunschweig, Germany, emphasizes how close he and his family are. 

Where he goes they go, mentioning trips to Japan, China and Thailand. 

Schröder has played 24 games with the Warriors, averaging 9.8 points on 32.5 percent shooting overall and 25.9 percent on 3-pointers in his first 12 games. In his last 12, his scoring numbers have risen to 11.4 points per game on 42.5 percent shooting and 38.6 percent from three. Schroder predicted he would play better once his family was here and he wasn’t wrong, also averaging 1.5 steals the past 12 games. 

The Warriors, because of a new exception in the CBA, can flip Schröder by Thursday’s trade deadline. Starting Wednesday, Schröder can be aggregated in a deal with other players. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but the Warriors hold his early Bird rights. 

Schröder wants to remain in a Golden State jersey for the rest of the season, and possibly beyond. The Warriors paid for him to live in a hotel room before his family arrived. Now they’re back together, they have their apartment and Schröder, recognizing his style of play hasn’t always been the easiest fit on the Warriors, sees an on and off-the-court connection he doesn’t want to end. 

“If it stays this way, I think we’re going to accomplish a lot,” Schröder said. “At the end of the day, it’s just where I feel appreciated, where you get the appreciation. Being 12 years in this league, wherever people want you and make sure you feel appreciated when you come to work and do your stuff, that’s where you want to be. They’ve been doing that, so far.

“We’re going to start winning again, turn it around and hopefully we’re going to stay this way and make a deep run in the playoffs. Then from there on, we build. When somebody welcomes you like they did to me, of course I want to stay here. I got a few more years until I want go back to my team in Germany, so of course it would be great if I’m here. Let’s see.

“You never know in this business.”

Between his experiences and bettering basketball for all, Schröder has strong opinions on the structure of sports and the sensation of speculation. He hopes long-term changes can come, just as he hopes to stay with the Warriors, for the short term in the least.

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